Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel weren’t the...
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Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel weren’t the only harmony-singing duo with a history of personal tensions on stage for the opening of their reunion tour Thursday.
Midway through their set at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Simon & Garfunkel introduced the Everly Brothers, who sang three of their early hits, “Wake Up Little Susie,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream” and “Let It Be Me.” Simon & Garfunkel then joined them on a fourth, “Bye Bye Love.” After the show, it was announced that the Everlys would perform on the entire 40-city tour, Simon & Garfunkel’s first in two decades. “Art and I learned to sing as a duo by listening to Everly Brothers records and practicing their harmonies,” Simon said in a statement released by his publicist. “We’re both great fans of their singing and guitar playing.”
Thursday’s show before a sellout crowd of 9,000 was billed by the group’s management as a “warm-up” for the formal tour that begins tonight in Auburn Hills, Mich.; the band is scheduled to play at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on Nov. 14 and 19 and at Staples Center on Nov. 17 and 18.
The two-hour concert was introduced by a video montage showing news clips and shots of the singers in their youth. The set included such Simon & Garfunkel staples as “America,” “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “The Boxer” and “The 59th Street Bridge Song,” as well as a duet version of Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away.”
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